


Final Judgement

by Aeltari



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 11:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13409904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeltari/pseuds/Aeltari
Summary: Elder Maxson's final moments aren't what he imagined.





	Final Judgement

* * *

Elder Arthur Maxson had always believed that his eventual death would come in a blaze of victorious glory, leading his beloved Brotherhood of Steel into battle against the enemy. He would have grey in his hair and scars aplenty by that point, and be touted as the greatest leader the Brotherhood ever had.  He had believed this so deeply, it was part of the life story he had written for himself in the recesses of his own mind.

If the truth had been revealed to him at any point, he would have laughed.

He had heard the rumors not long after reaching the Commonwealth from the Capital Wasteland, they all had. About a cryogenically frozen, reanimated sole survivor of a thought dead Vault, seeking retribution for the murder of her brother and the kidnapping of her nephew.

Stories of her exploits began to sound more and more outrageous but he had discounted her as an inflated legend, much as he had been made out to be. Until the toughest raider gangs were going underground to avoid her, and the Railroad disappeared, and scuttlebutt reported she had single handedly walked into their HQ after winning their trust, and slaughtered the lot of them in cold blood. He closed the ranks of the Brotherhood, just to be on the safe side.

Rumor had it she had fallen in with the Institute.

Rumor had it she had murdered it's Director as well and taken over.

Arthur Maxson knew she would be coming for the Brotherhood, it was no secret that they had waged an open war against the Institute. A few lost patrols and a downed Vertibird maybe?  At worst the loss of an outpost or two, but never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined the extent of it.

Arthur had envisioned her to be an amazon with fiery hair, a tempest raging with vengeance, a banshee screaming with retribution...

He lay, broken on the ground, his power armor unable to save him from his fatal wounds after the fall from the Vertibird above the carnage of the Boston Airport. He had seen the ground littered with his Brotherhood soldiers, his _family,_ the place crawling with those synthetic abominations. Destroyed and crashed Vertibirds smoked and burned, the bodies of the pilots and gunners littered around them.

The bright blue flash that had torn his helmet from him as he manned the gun on his Vertibird had unbalanced him, and he felt the continuous sting of volleys of weapon blasts. He lost his grip and plummeted from the Vertibird as a missile shot crippled it and it began to spin out of control.

He had felt his body shatter as he hit the ground.

His vision was reasonably clear, and he saw two figures approach him. One was in power armor and for a moment he believed someone had come to his aid. But behind them came a figure clad in black leather, his skin equally dark, eyes hidden by sunglasses. The face was impassive, devoid of all emotion, and he recognized it for what it was.

_Institute Courser._

The figure in power armor stopped, then stepped out. He stared in confusion. A woman, no older than himself, in the same black leather. Her auburn hair was blowing in the slight breeze and she knelt beside him. She had no weapon in her hands. Removing her gloves she lay them on the ground.

"You're Maxson, aren't you?" she asked softly.

He said nothing but studied her face. A young face, barely out of her youth, with pale blue eyes and a slightly turned up nose. Faint freckles dotted her cheeks. He didn't imagine her to be taller than 5'2". She sighed and her eyes were sad.

"I'm Alyssa," she continued. "Alyssa Leigh Landon. Some people call me the Sole Survivor on account of me crawling out of Vault 111 after being frozen for 200 years!" She smiled then, briefly. "This isn't how I wanted to meet you."

"Ma'am," came the soft monotonous voice of the abomination behind her. "I fail to see the point. He must be terminated."

She frowned then and looked up at the courser. "No, X6. He deserves a chance." Turning back to Arthur she lay a soft hand on the side of his face. "It doesn't have to be this way. Let me take you back to the Institute. We can heal your wounds and you can see what we have accomplished. Our technology...it's incredible. My nephew, Shaun...he was the previous Director...he created so many advances in science, science that will change the Commonwealth, fix it and save it."

He tried to speak. There was no way those monsters would get a hold of him. He'd die first. But his voice wouldn't come. He croaked miserably, the pain in his body beginning to take hold, threatening to relieve him of consciousness.

"We can live together in peace," Alyssa said, tenderly brushing blood away from his eyes. She could see his pain, his anger, his fear. "Please, Maxson. Let's make a difference. Your Brotherhood and my Institute."

Arthur could never have imagined that the last face he would see would be his enemy's, the last touch on his skin that of the person who had destroyed his dreams. His eyes fluttered over to the magnificent Prydwen floating in the air.

Alyssa followed his gaze. "My synths are standing by to take her down. I'm sorry."

"N...no..." he whispered harshly. Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. He needed her to know there were children on board, squires in training. But no words came.

"Will you let me take you to the Institute?" she asked once more.

Summoning all his strength he raised his hand and pulled hers from his face.

He thought he saw tears in her eyes and she nodded. "So be it then. Please close your eyes." She reached behind her and drew her weapon.

Arthur refused. He stared into those pale blue eyes, eyes of a girl barely a woman.

"Goodbye, Maxson," she whispered.

A bright flash.

Then darkness.


End file.
